


Thirty Seconds Later

by justonebigclusterfuck



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - GTA, Developing Relationship, Fake AH Crew, First Meetings, GTA AU, M/M, Slow Build, also there's a bit of blood, and a lot of cute stuff to come probably, blood tw, i'm not sure what to write here, its basically the gta au, superhero au, with superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-10 12:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4392812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justonebigclusterfuck/pseuds/justonebigclusterfuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In his line of work, Ray could say that he had seen pretty much everything. He’d seen buildings burst into flames with the single click of someone’s fingers and he’d seen people hold their breath underwater for more than twenty times the average human time-span. His kind just played by a different set of rules, and he was used to that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In his line of work, Ray could say that he had seen pretty much everything. He'd seen buildings burst into flames with the single click of someone's fingers and he'd seen people hold their breath underwater for more than twenty times the average human time-span. His kind just played by a different set of rules, and he was used to that.

But when a man came tumbling out of a laundry shoot before him and landed ungracefully on the hard concrete floor with a loud swear, Ray swore that this life was determined to keep surprising him.

“Well aren't you fucked?” He chuckled, stepping towards the man and looking down at the blood spreading rapidly from his leg.

The human – he had to be human because only a human would be stupid enough to do something like that – mumbled uselessly and Ray crouched down beside him, fingers coming down to press into the thigh. That was when he got a response. Strong hands were suddenly clenched around his wrist, hands much stronger than he'd expected, and piercing blue eyes were darting over his purple hoodie and black scarf.

Ray swallowed when they finally settled on his face, his free hand coming up in a half surrender. “I'm not going to hurt you,” he offered and it was a long half-second before the male was slumping back against the wall. His body sagged, as if all of the energy had suddenly washed out of him and Ray felt bad for teasing him almost instantly. He could feel the pain gushing out of him, almost as quickly as the blood pooling at the man's feet, and his hands were itching to get on him, to heal him.

“That was pretty impressive,” Ray commented, dragging his purple hoodie from his shoulders as he spoke. Maybe it would be easier to heal him, but the man was out of his mind, almost out of it completely, and if he decided later that he wasn't in the mood to be messing around with gifted scum then Ray would be in a bad place. This man looked like he could floor Ray in a few seconds flat and Ray's power was pretty lame when it came to any sort of fighting.  
“You could have just used a door though.” The jokes were sour even to Ray, but the man's lips were arching slightly and Ray could work with this, maybe. “You know, like a normal person.” 

There was a snort then, and Ray sort of guessed what the man was insinuating. Ray wasn't much like a normal person either. Crawling through dark allies, sneaking around in the dead of the night, and Ray could admit it- he wasn't much of a normal person either, but if he had been then he wouldn't have ended up here.  
Blue eyes let out a groan as Ray's fingers tugged his knot tighter, securing his hoodie around the gash and hopefully slowing the blood flow until they got out of here.  


“Are you ready to get up?” He offered a hand out, his gaze softening when he saw just how difficult it was for the man just to open his eyes. Then a hand was sliding through his gloved one and Ray was tugging him up, eyes following as the man's height reached and surpassed his own. He was tall, really tall, at least a head on top of Ray's own.  


Blue eyes met his own again and this time Ray was the one to smile, offering up an expression that he hoped looked supportive. “My place is this way.”  


Then the man's arm was around his shoulder and Ray's was looped around his waist, because that was the best he could do, and somehow they were walking, stumbling, but they were doing it.  


Things got harder after the first corner and by the time they reached the door to Ray's block of flats, the man was practically collapsed on top of him. His feet were mainly dragging across the floor now and the only help he appeared able to give was the ability to still cling on tightly to Ray's shoulder.  


The worrying thing was that even that grip was weakening now .  


“Hold on, big guy,” Ray muttered as he staggered across the linoleum tiles towards the lift.  


By the time he had hit the call button, he was prepared to collapse as well. His legs were killing him and it was this moment that he wished more than anything that he had another power, any other power that could actually be useful.  


“Just a little longer.”  


The doors to the lift were open now and Ray was dragging him now. The man had to be unconscious, or close to losing it anyway. He couldn't do anything to help now and Ray hesitated before hitting the button to deactivate the lift rather than pressing his floor number.  


Then he was peeling off his glove, the black material coming away easily before it was falling to the floor of the lift. He flexed his fingers, watching once again for any sign from the man that he shouldn't do this but he didn't get any.  


It wasn't like he had a choice any more, right?  


His fingers touched the skin of the man just after he'd taken a breath and he felt the shift between their bodies as the connection was opened. Pain flooded through him, engulfing him and Ray's teeth dug into his bottom lip until he could taste copper at the tip of his tongue.  


Still he clung on.  


He clung on until the pain was too much, until his own head was dizzy and his vision was starting to blur.  


“Fuck.” Nails dug into his thighs, fingers wrapped tight around his legs and it took him a second to realise that they were his own hands. The deep panting that was filling the air was his as well. It was frightening how guttural it sounded, how long he'd held on.  


It took him a minute to slow his breathing to a normalish speed. It took him about the same amount of time again for him to get his hand to stop shaking enough to pull his glove back on.  


By the time he'd managed to open his eyes, he was already questioning why he'd even done it. Then his eyes were on the man again, on the closed lids and the vibrant eyes that he knew were behind them, and he was letting out a soft breath before shaking his head.  


“You better be worth this, blue eyes,” Ray said beneath his breath. With one hand braced against the wall, he was able to push himself to his feet again and this time he did hit the button for his floor.  


The movement of the lift only intensified his dizziness and the lift music was like a curse set upon his already fragile mind. He was grateful that they only had to go up two flights.  


Somehow they made it back to his flat. Somehow Ray managed to get him onto the sofa without causing any more damage and then he'd stripped him of his clothes and had washed and bandaged him properly. The wound was scabbed over now; the blood was clotted and the skin around it was looking fresher already.  
Ray didn't want to think about what it would have looked like if he hadn't chosen tonight to try to break into that building. He didn't even want to consider what would have happened if he'd decided to wait an hour. What if he'd just decided to wait an extra minute, or thirty seconds later?  


Would he even have lasted long enough for Ray to see him alive?  


Ray was glad that he didn't have to learn the answer to that particular question.  


He leant forwards in his chair and his fingers ran gently over the man's forehead to check for a fever, hoping against hope that there was no infection. And then again to brush locks of blonde hair to one side. He had a pretty face, true most of it was marred from scars from days gone past but he was still there. He was still whole. Besides, Ray thought he preferred it with the marks there. It showed that he was real; he was a risk-taker. He was the same sort as Ray, and Ray couldn't wait to get to know him come daylight.


	2. Chapter 2

Ray awoke to the sound of a familiar loud crack splitting through the silence of the room around him. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep – he hadn't even intended to fall asleep, especially not undefended beside a complete stranger – but the next thing he knew he was jerking away and scrambling to understand what was going on. It was that and the loud yell that followed the crack that told Ray he had unwanted guests.

“What the fuck, Gavin! I told you not to teleport me-” Ray hadn't even managed to open his eyes properly before there was the loud pounding of footsteps and the slam of a distant door.

Ray grimaced.

He knew exactly where Michael was sprinting to and it was probably best that both Ray and Gavin left him alone for a few minutes. Ray was more than used to teleporting with Gaivn by now but for Michael, who usually preferred his own methods of travel, teleporting still had some unwanted side affects.

Pushing himself up from the arm of his chair, Ray blinked away the blurry vision until he was able to focus at least partially on the room around him. It took him half a second to realise that he'd lost his glasses at some point during the night, and a further ten to find them on the couch beside him.

By the time he was looking up, Michael was already stood by Gavin's side again, scolding him angrily.

“I told you not to and now Geoff and Jack are back there-”

“But Micoo, there were lots of them-”

“And now Geoff and Jack are back there alone. With them.” Michael hesitated, giving him about five seconds (presumably to let Gavin to take those words in), before he was speaking again. “I'm going back.”

Then, just as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone again leaving the door to swing shut slowly after him.

“I didn't mean to,” Gavin said a heartbeat later and Ray smiled at him reassuringly.

“Go help.”

The crack exploded through the room before Gavin was gone as well and Ray was finally able to slump forwards against his chair again. The arm chair wasn't the most uncomfortable thing in the world but he'd manage to fall asleep in the worst possible position. He regretted it now. The healing must have taken a lot more out of him than he'd thought it had.

It took about half a minute for him to finally allow his eyes to trail over to the injured male and he was surprised to find that the man was still asleep. Both of his hands were curled up beside his face, his head nudging against them gently, and Ray couldn't help but note the scars that ran across them.

Then his eyes were trailing lower, running down the line of the male's body before they were resting on his legs. He should check on that, probably. He didn't know how much he'd managed to heal it last night but it definitely wasn't completely healed. He hadn't even been able to check it over before he'd clocked out for the night!

It had been stupid of him really. He should have called one of the other guys to get them to come and watch over them. He knew what he was like when it came to large healings like that. But he'd been reckless.

Blue eyes had made him reckless.

He hunkered down beside the man's lying figure and pushed back the blankets to reveal his bare legs. His hand ran slowly over the skin and he could almost feel the energy of his power bumping at the edge of his mind. It was determined to get to work, determined to heal.

Ray knew he was careless with it most of the time. He used it without thinking and he was always trying to help whenever he could. Because other than that he was pretty useless. The rest of the Fake AH Crew all had powers that could be weaponised. Yeah, Ray was a decent shot - he was one heck of a decent shot actually – but Ray couldn't use his powers like the others could.

The others had powers that they could use to actually improve their fighting chances. Their powers were instantaneous and the side effects were bearable when they were out there. Whenever Ray had actually had the chance to be useful with his healing power, it had almost knocked them out. He'd become more of a hindrance than a help and had probably held them back rather than helping them forwards.

Now he didn't go on heists as much. Or rather he didn't go on the smaller ones like these. He stayed at home and made sure that when they got back he was ready to heal them all.

That was his thing.

Or at least it had been, until today.

Today he'd totally wrecked everything by bringing a complete stranger into their house. He didn't even know this guy's name let alone-

His eyes had flickered subconsciously back up to the man's face. It had only been for a second, but unlike the first time, this time he was met by a pair of bright blue eyes. Bright blue eyes that hovered on him before sliding to where Ray's hand was resting on his bare leg.

“What are you doing?” He asked at the same time as Ray yanked his hand (and himself) away.

“Nothing.”

It obviously wasn't nothing and the raised eyebrow told him that the other man had caught onto that as well.

“You were touching my leg.” And the way he said it was so slow, so accusingly that Ray could do nothing but shrug in response. It was obvious that he had seen so there was no point lying to him.

“Why?”

Ray paused, trying to think up some sort of excuse that didn't put his power out in the open. Although mutants were quiet common now, a lot of people didn't like them. In fact Ray had seen some of his crew being turfed out of places just because they were recognised faces. That's why the crew had started really. They needed a way to get back on top, to stop being the underdogs. Creating a gang that people feared had just been one way to do that. Plus they were able to earn some cash at the same time.

“Hey- My leg's fine!” Ray laughed; he laughed at how genuinely happy the older man seemed by that discovery; he laughed at the way he bent and stretched his leg childishly and he laughed at the ridiculous smile stretched across his lips and the way his blue eyes shone like the brightest lapis.

“It wasn't actually broken,” Ray lied. It was the worst lie ever as well. There had been blood. There had been a lot of pain as well- so much so that Blue Eyes had passed out.

Ray was really bad at lying.

But thankfully there wasn't a chance for argument because Gavin's crack was sounding through the room again and suddenly Geoff's voice was in his ears, calling for help, and Ray was glancing down at Blue Eye's wide blue eyes and holding his finger up to his lips.

Then he was gone.

He crossed the room in a few short bounds, eyes falling on Jack's bleeding arm before he'd even managed two of them.

“What the fuck happened to you?” He asked as he stopped beside him.

“Just heal him, Ray.” And Geoff's teeth were gritted and Ray could almost feel the anger rolling off of him. It crashed around him likes waves in an angry ocean, spreading his wrath much further than he himself could reach.

If the way Gavin was slowly backing away from Geoff was anything to go off, then Ray suspected he had some idea what the problem was.

“Just lie him down,” Ray said, knees bending as he dropped to the floor and he ran his hand over Jacks arm in search of the gash.

A loud curse was his marker and Ray's eyes were shutting seconds later as he focused.

Once again he was feeling the familiar tug before the pain was swooping in on his towards Ray, leaving behind it's perch on Jack. It soared through his body, spreading it's pain like wildfire through him and Ray clung to Jack's arm before it was washed away.

“You okay?” A hand was clapped to his shoulder – Ray couldn't remember when it got there – and another one was around his waist, helping him up to his feet. Ray turned into Michael, his own arm sliding around the redhead's waist in an attempt to balance himself.

“Gimme a minute.”

“Jack's fine,” Geoff called out and Jack's affirmative mumbled followed seconds later. Jack would be fine, it was Ray who got the brunt of it all after all.

“Let's get you to the couch,” Michael was suggesting and Ray was nodding. Nodding without thinking, really. Because the couch sounded good. Sitting down sounded really good, in fact. But the in the next instant he was remembering why he'd told them to put Jack on the floor and why the couch was actually a really bad idea, but before he could say anything Gavin was speaking up and it was too late to do anything, really.

“Who's the guy on our couch?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but some people said they wanted another chapter so I wrote one. I have a couple of ideas for this now that I've started brainstorming past the first chapter and I think it could be fun ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

“Why would you even think this was a good idea?”

“We don't know anything about him.”

“Do you even know his name?”

“You've shown him where our base is.”

“I thought out of everyone I could rely on you, Ray.”

Ray's eyes drifted back to the living room again. The hard wood of the kitchen table was probably the only reason he was sat up straight right now. Michael, his crutch, had long since gone, charged instead with watching the intruder while Geoff 'talked' to Ray.

Everyone knew what Geoff had meant when he'd said talk though; he doubted any of them were surprised by the raised tones coming from the kitchen.

Except for maybe Blue Eyes.

What sort of people fought over saving someone's life? What sort of people thought that it might have been a bad idea?

Ray couldn't imagine he'd be staying much longer than he needed to. But then he wasn't sure that Geoff would let him go alive either. He was taking the crew thing very seriously and, although he hated it, Ray agreed that someone knowing the location of their base was a bad idea. Especially when they were so small and only starting out! There was bigger gangs than them, much bigger gangs that wouldn't want to lose their business to a new group. They'd want to fight back and if they somehow stumbled across the one citizen that knew their location they'd be screwed.

Or, as Geoff had already said, nothing was stopping Blue Eyes from selling them out to the highest bidder.

Why couldn't one of them wipe minds or something, that'd make everything so much easier.

“We need to talk to him and see what he plans on doing,” Geoff concluded. His face was still grim when Ray turned his gaze towards it and Ray didn't doubt that the man would be unhappy with him for at least a couple more hours. But he'd forgive him soon. That was the good thing about the Fake AH Crew, they all got on so well that it was impossible for them to stay angry at one and another for too long.

“Sorry, Geoff. We'll sort this out,” Ray promised. After a nod, Ray was rising to his feet and Geoff was at his side in seconds so that they could head back into the other room.

Michael was sat on the sofa opposite Blue Eyes. His gaze was levelled on the man, paying complete attention to everything that he did. Gavin was perched next to him; his gaze was set on Blue Eyes as well, but where Michael's was cold, Gavin's was filled with intrigue.

Ray mentally sighed in preparation for the questions that Gavin would eventually start asking.

“What's your name?” Geoff asked the second he had slowed to a stop in front of the man. His arms were crossed and his eyes were narrowed and Ray knew that this was not a Geoff to be messed with. He only hoped that the other man knew that as well.

“Blue Eyes, apparently.” It was impossible for Ray to miss the wide grin that was shot in his direction and it took all of his effort to keep a stoic expression fixed on his face. He felt terrible for it, after all the other man was just trying to be nice, and the way his smile slipped away afterwards was painful for Ray to watch.

All of it was painful actually. Because after the disappearance of the smile, a frown met his lips instead. His eyes lost their laugh and became steeled and defensive. Even his body shifted, turning itself slightly away from the Fake AH Crew.

Ray found that admirable. The man hadn't dissolved into a terrified mess when he realised he was being questioned. His eyes weren't darting around in search of an escape and neither was he pleading with one of them for help. In fact he wasn't saying a word. He was staring them down instead, waiting for whatever was going to come next. Ray didn't think they'd ever encountered anyone with that reaction before. Most regular folk were usually quivering in their boots by the time Geoff's gaze was on them, outside of the occasional roughed up rivals they'd faced, but the Los Sanots was a rough place. Maybe this guy just knew how to hold his own.

“What's your name?” It sounded harsher when Geoff repeated it. He didn't need to say the threat out loud because it was obvious just in his voice.

**This is your last chance.**

**Don't mess it up.**

“Ryan. Ryan Haywood.”

Eyes were meeting across the room instantly. Ray didn't recognise the name but maybe one of the others- They'd all dabbled with other crews before they found this one; they all knew the names to watch out for, the people to worry about.

Apparently this Haywood wasn't one of them.

“Who do you run with?”

“I- No one.” There was a suspicious look in Geoff's eye, a calculated look. A few moments of silence passed as his lips pressed together in a thin line, and then the man was speaking up again. This was why Geoff was the leader, because he knew how people worked.

“Not any more.” His lips curled up into a smile, before he was speaking again. “It didn't work out.” Ray tried not to hear the obvious dark tones behind the words. He tried not to focus on the grin and the spark in the man's eyes but it was hard not to.

He knew the other were all thinking the same thing as he was: what had happened?

“We're not looking for trouble,” Geoff continued.

“I'm not bringing any.”

“How did you get injured?” His hand waved at Ryan's leg that was still visible from beneath the blankets. Bright lines of red still marked the skin where Ray hadn't healed them properly, the dark slashes so visible against the pale white.

“I fell.”

Ray nodded when Geoff's eyes landed on his. As far as he knew that was what had happened, even if it was slightly underplayed.

“I'm not here to mess with you,” Blue Eyes – Ryan – promised. “He brought me here and I'll leave just as quickly if you want me to.”

Geoff hesitated again before he was shrugging.

“Keep an eye on him.”

And then he was gone.

Ray watched his retreating figure with complete confusion. That had been easy, much too easy, and Ray almost wanted Geoff to come back and repeat it all again. It shouldn't have been that easy for Ryan to stay- they knew nothing absolutely nothing about him, except for his name and he could have lied about that as well.

But then he shouldn't question it really. He was the one who had brought him here after all.

“So do I get to know your names as well?” Four sets of eyes swivelled to land on Ryan and he let out an innocent shrug at their gazes. “I was just wondering.”

“I'm Michael,” Michael said after a beat.

“Michael,” Ryan repeated before turning to Gavin. Now that Michael had gone, the others followed swiftly after with their own names and Ryan turned to Ray last. Ray convinced himself that his smile had quirked up when he repeated his name because he knew all of their names now, not because it was Ray's.

“It's nice to meet you all.” He sounded perfectly charming as he spoke as well. His voice was soft and sound and it was rimmed with an accident that Ray couldn't quite put his finger on. He spoke properly, not in slang like Michael or Ray or made up words like Gav (Ray was convinced they were all made up). Ray couldn't believe that this was the same clumsy man that had managed to fall out of a garbage chute. It just didn't seem possible. But the scars on his legs were proof enough.

“Did you really fall over?” Gavin asked and Ryan let out a chuckle.

“Sort of.”

“He fell out of a garbage chute.” Ray teased and Ryan shot him a glare while Gavin quickly dissolved into laughter.

“How did you manage that?” Michael exclaimed, the volume of his voice increasing as his laughter started to spill from his lips. “Even Gavin isn't that bad.”

“Oi!”

Michael had found his way to one of the armchairs now and was sitting between the pillows with Gavin perched on the arm beside him. Ray was still leaning against the wall and Jack had vanished after Geoff.

“I didn't go out to fall down a garbage chute.”

“But you did.”

“That's a point. Do any of you- Are any of you like Ray?”

Silence fell again as glances were traded. The lads weren't sure if they were supposed to tell the new guy about their powers; they weren't even really sure how long the new guy was going to be the new guy until Geoff kicked him out or enlisted him properly.

“We-” Ray started before he was interrupted by an annoying crack and was greeted a split second later by the sight of Gavin lying splayed across Ryan.

If it was any consolation, Ryan looked just as surprised as Ray was. Michael was already recovering to yell at Gavin about maybe not traumatising the new guy while Gavin was looking around a happy.

“You'd make a good chair.” He commented before he was bounding to his feet and dropping back down beside Michael again.

Ryan watched him for a good while before he was turning to Ray.

“You already know my power,” Ray pointed out and Ryan nodded, his gaze sliding onto the redhead. Michael didn't even flinch at Ryan's curious gaze. He met his eyes straight on and declared his power with the widest of smirks. “Super speed.”

“And the others?” Ryan prompted.

“They can tell you themselves,” Ray in-putted quickly before the others could reveal Geoff and Jack's powers. Despite the lads having so quickly given up their abilities, Ray still didn't trust Blue Eyes. They still knew nothing about him and even though the others were so quick to rely on him, Ray was much slower when it came to trusting other people.

Someone had to be.

“Alright.” His smile had barely crossed his face before there was the sound of footsteps and Jack and Geoff entered the room again talking in hushed whispers. Ray looked at them curiously but it was Ryan who perked up the most.

“What powers do you have?” He asked and it would have been adorable if he wasn't some 30 something year-old rather than a kid. Ray expected Geoff to shoot him down. He expected the return of a glare and maybe some anger towards the lads for giving in so easily.

But Geoff smiled.

He crossed his arms and smiled.

“I'll tell you if you do something for us.”

“I'm listening.”

“We have a heist and we need an extra set of hands, call it insurance. You help us with the heist and we'll let you in the crew.”

“Why do you think I want it?”

“Why else would you be asking so many questions?” Ryan didn't reply to that and neither did Geoff. They both just smiled and Ray could almost see the mental conversation passing between them.

He just hoped that Geoff's stupid play to learn more about Ryan wouldn't end up with them all in the shitter.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I probably wrote most of my endnote in my tags, sorry, but this is my first attempt writing raywood and any critique would be awesome.  
> My tumblr is justonebigclusterfuck.tumblr.com if you're interested. Hit me up there with prompts~


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